It might be useful to Bjarne to know that in 1775 in England, at least, hand-kissing was not necessarily literal. Witness this dialogue from Richard Brinsley Sheridan's "The Rivals." Bob Acres, a country squire eager to appear sophisticated during a visit to Bath, is meeting with his acquaintance Sir Lucius O'Trigger, a landed Irish gentleman of old-fashioned manners:
Enter Sir Lucius. SIR LUCIUS: Mr. Acres, I am delighted to embrace you. ACRES: My dear Sir Lucius, I kiss your hands. It is probable that no embracing or hand-kissing actually takes place, but that these are merely verbal expressions of good-will. (Indeed, the moment on stage is much more delicious if the two gentlemen making these statements are standing half a room apart!) So between a gentleman and a lady in 1775 I would imagine (on this theatrical basis) that hand-kissing would be essentially a courtly gesture rather than necessarily a lip-to-flesh experience, and bowing low over the lady's hand would do. --Ruth Anne Baumgartner scholar gypsy and amateur costumer _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
